Foldable bed



Dec. 12, 1967 G. 1.. GEORGE FOLDABLE BED Filed Aug. 26, 1966 2Sheets-Shee l u PM g m //v Viz N701? 64/24 A. 61501965 Dec. 12, 1967 G.1.. GEORGE 3, 7,030

FOLDABLE BED Filed Aug. 26, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 5 .2 19. 8 Mum/70 Iflrme/i/zs s United States Patent 3,357,030 FOLDABLE BED Gary L. George,208 19th St. N., Northwood, Iowa 50459 Filed Aug. 26, 1966, Ser. No.575,352 3 Claims. (Cl. ---41) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A foldable bedcomprises a frame member having horizontal and vertical portions, threesheet members hingedly secured together and normally supported by theframe member, and three cushion members foldably secured together beingsupported by the sheet members. The cushion members and the sheetmembers are movable between a bed position with all sheet members andcushion members lying horizontally, and a chair position with at leastone cushion member and one sheet member extending upwardly andrearwardly from a horizontal cushion member and a horizontal sheetmember respectively.

This invention relates to a foldable bed and more particularly to afoldable bed of the couch type which may be either used as a couch or asa bed.

Conventional folding beds of the general type disclosed herein are notcomfortable mainly because of the construction of the supporting frameand cushion. The supporting frame of the conventional folding beds donot provide the ultimate in the angular relationship between the seatand back portions thereof. The cushions do not provide a smooth flatsurface when the device is folded to its bed position. Additionally, theconventional folding beds are of complicated design and the cost ofmanufacturing the same is quite high.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide afoldable bed.

, A further object of this invention is to provide a foldable bed whichis comprised of a supporting frame, a foldable sheet means and afoldable cushion means.

A further object of this invention is to provide a foldable bed whichhas a back portion and a seat portion, the back portion being inclinedat approximately. 110 degrees with respect to the seat portion when thedevice is being used as a couch or the like.

A further object of this invention is to provide a foldable bed which iseasily folded from one position to another position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a foldable bed which isof relatively simple design.

A further object of this invention is to provide a foldable bed which iseconomical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, andcombination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objectscontemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the device;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the device as would be seen on line 2-2 ofFIG. 1, at an enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the device with the cushionsremoved therefrom;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the foldable sheet means;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the device in a bed position withthe cushions removed;

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the device when folded to its bedposition, the cushions being provided thereon;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view as would be seen on line 7 7 of FIG. 6, at anenlarged scale; and

FIG. 8 is an end view of the cushions of the device illustrating thefoldable relationship therebetween.

The numeral 10 generally designates the bed of this invention which maybe folded from the seat position seen in FIG. 1 to the bed position ofFIG. 6. Bed 10 is comprised of two end members 11 and 13 which aresecured together by means of lower frame members 15 and 17 and a backframe member 19, all of which extend therebetween. An end frame member21 is secured to each of end members 11 and 13 and extend between theends of lower frame members 15 and 17. As best seen in FIG. 2, lowerframe member 15 is spaced rearwardly of the front of the bed.

Three sheet members 23, 25 and 27 are hingedly secured together as seenin the drawings. As seen in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 7, sheet member 23 has aframe member 29 secured to its lower forward end by any convenient meansand that a plurality of leg members 31 are secured thereto and extenddownwardly therefrom.

Three cushion members 33, 35 and 37 are pivotally secured together asbest seen in FIG. 8. Preferably, each of cushion members 33, 35 and 37are constructed of a polyurethane and covered with upholstery material.When such is the case, the upholstery covers would be secured togetherin the manner seen in FIG. 8 by any convenient means such as stitchingor the like. For purpose of description, cushion member 33 includes afront edge 39, back edge 41, top 43 and bottom 45; cushion member 35includes a front edge 47, back edge 49, top 51 and bottom 53; andcushion member 37 includes a front edge 55, back edge 57, top 59 andbottom 61. It should be noted that the back edge 49 and the front edge55 of cushion members 35 and 37 respectively are not transverse to theplanes of the top and bottom surfaces thereof, but on the contrary, areinclined with respect thereto. Preferably, back edge 49 of cushionmember 35 is constructed so as to provide an approximate 70 degreesangle between it and the plane of bottom 53 while front edge 55 ofcushion member 37 is inclined so as to provide an approximate degreesangle between it and the plane of bottom 61. Back edge 57 of cushionmember 37 is parallel to front edge 55 and therefore forms an angle ofapproximately 70 degrees with the plane of bottom 61.

Sheet members 23 and 25 may be hinged together by means of an elongatedpiano hinge 63 extending between the upper surfaces of sheet members 23and 25 as best illustrated in FIG. 4. Sheet members 25 and 27 arehingedly secured together by means of the piano hinge 65 secured to theabutting edges at the lower surfaces thereof.

When the bed It! is folded to the seat position of FIG. 2, frame member29 abuts frame member 15 to limit the rearward movement of the sheetmembers with respect to the end members 11 and 13. A dust rufiie 67 issecured to the forward edge of sheet member 23 as seen in FIG. 2 ifdesired to create a more attractive bed. When the bed is used as a seatmember, sheet member 23 rests upon the frame formed by frame members 21and 15. Sheet member 25 is inclined upwardly at approximately an angleof 110 degrees with respect to sheet member 23 while sheet member 27hangs downwardly in a non-operative condition. As seen in FIG. 2, sheetmember 27 engages back frame member 19 to limit the rearward pivotalmovement of sheet members 25 and 27. When the bed is used as a seatmember, cushion member 33 rests upon sheet member 23 and cushion mernber35 engages and is supported by sheet member 25 while cushion member 37has been pivoted forwardly over in front of the middle cushion 35 asbest seen in FIG. 2. It can be seen in FIG. 2 that the inclined backedge 5'7 of cushion member 37 abuts the upper surface of cushion member33. It can also be seen in FIG. 2 that the edges 49 and 55 of cushionmembers 35 and 37 respectively form a continuous flat surface at theupper end of the cushions serving as a back supporting means. Thus, theangle between cushion members 33 and 37 is approximately 110 degreeswhich is the optimum angle between seat and back portions in a chairdevice.

The bed is folded from the seat position of FIG. 2 to the bed positionof FIG. 7 by simply grasping one of the legs 31 and sliding the sheetmembers outwardly to a point where hinge 63 rests on framemember andhinge 65 rests on end frame member 21, which causes the sheet members toassume the position seen in FIG. 7. The cushion members are then simplypivoted until they also assume the flat horizontal position seen in FIG.7. It can be seen in FIG. 7 that the cushion members provide acontinuous smooth upper surface as well as continuous joints between theindividual cushion members to provide the ultimate in appearance andcomfort. When it is desired to refold the bed so that it may be used asa seat member, it is simply necessary to lay cushion members 35 and 37on top of cushion member 32 and to grasp the hand-hold 69 which isformed in sheet member 25 and to pull the sheet members to the positionseen in FIG. 3.

It can be appreciated that an extremely etficient and simple folding bedhas been provided which provides the ultimate in appearance and comfortwith a minimum of associated parts. The bed can be economicallymanufactured and will be extremely durable in use. The configuration ofthe cushion members insures that the cushion members will provide acontinuous smooth upper surface when the cushion members are in thehorizontal position and also insures that an angle of approximately 110degrees will be formed between the cushion which serves as a seatcushion and the cushions which serve as back cushions.

Thus it can be seen that the device accomplishes at least all of itsstated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of myfoldable bed without departing from the real spirit and purpose of myinvention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may bereasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a foldable bed,

a supporting frame means including a horizontal disposed frame assemblyand frame member disposed thereabove,

a sheet means comprised of a plurality of rigid sheet members securedtogether by hinge means, said sheet means being movable on saidsupporting frame means between first and second positions, said sheetmeans being horizontally disposed on said frame means with all of saidhinge means resting on said horizontal frame assembly when in said firstposition thereby serving as a bed, said sheet means having one of itssheet members in a horizontal position on said frame assembly and asecond sheet member extending upwardly therefrom and operativelysupported by said frame member when in said second position,

and a cushion means comprised of front, intermediate, and rear cushionmembers pivotally secured together and being movable between first andsecond positions on said sheet means, said cushion means beinghorizontally disposed on said sheet means when said sheet means and saidcushion means are in their first positions, said front cushion memberbeing horizontal with said intermediate cushion member, said rearcushion member and said second sheet member parallel to each other andextending upwardly and rearwardly from said front cushion member whensaid cushion means and said sheet means are in their second positions.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said front, intermediate, and rearcushion members each have front and rear edges, said rear cushion memberbeing positioned forwardly of said intermediate cushion member when saidcushion means is in its second position, said front edge of said rearcushion member and said rear edge of said intermediate cushion memberforming a horizontally disposed fiat surface.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein the rear edge of said rear cushionmember engages the top horizontal surface of said front cushion memberand is parallel thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5,641 6/1848 Emery 297-320 X2,257,497 9/1941 Gertler 5-46 X 2,866,207 12/1958 Smilow ct a1. 5-183,002,198 10/1961 Kaiser 5-41 3,060,460 10/1962 Broyles 5-41 X 3,124,3883/1964 Berlin 5-41 X CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A FOLDABLE BED, A SUPPORTING FRAME MEANS INCLUDING A HORIZONTALDISPOSED FRAME ASSEMBLY AND FRAME MEMBER DISPOSED THEREABOVE, A SHEETMEANS COMPRISED OF A PLURALITY OF RIGID SHEET MEMBERS SECURED TOGETHERBY HINGE MEANS, SAID SHEET MEANS BEING MOVABLE ON SAID SUPPORTING FRAMEMEANS BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND POSITIONS, SAID SHEET MEANS BEINGHORIZONTALLY DISPOSED ON SIAD FRAME MEANS WITH ALL OF SAID HINGE MEANSRESTING ON SAID HORIZONTAL FRAME ASSEMBLY WHEN IN SAID FIRST POSITIONTHEREBY SERVING AS A BED, SAID SHEET MEANS HAVING ONE OF ITS SHEETMEMBERS IN A HORIZONTAL POSITION ON SAID FRAME ASSEMBLY AND A SECONDSHEET MEMBER EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFROM AND OPERATIVELY SUPPORTED BYSAID FRAME MEMBER WHEN IN SAID SECOND POSITION, AND A CUSHION MEANSCOMPRISED OF FRONT, INTERMEDIATE, AND REAR CUSHION MEMBERS PIVOTALLYSECURED TOGETHER AND BEING MOVABLE BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND POSITIONS ONSAID SHEET MEANS, SAID CUSHION MEANS BEING HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED ON SAIDSHEET MEANS WHEN SAID SHEET MEANS AND SAID CUSHION MEANS ARE IN THEIRFIRST POSITIONS, SAID FRONT CUSHION MEMBER BEING HORIZONTAL WITH SAIDINTERMEDIATE CUSHION MEMBER, SAID REAR CUSHION MEMBER AND SAID SECONDSHEET MEMBER PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY ANDREARWARDLY FROM SAID FRONT CUSHION MEMBER WHEN SAID CUSHION MEANS ANDSAID SHEET MEANS ARE IN THEIR SECOND POSITIONS.